One shot: Yami no Junkyousha
by Mangetsu-Yuki
Summary: "This was not what I wanted, because I secretly loved you. I apologize for not telling you sooner, but I was sure you would have rejected me and I don't blame you. Live on, for both of us, please." - M. Please note that this is a work of fan fiction. The story and plot may differ from the original. Please enjoy!


**Yami no junkyosha**  
**(Martyr of darkness)**

_( A Marik / Mariku fanfiction)_

_"This was not what I wanted, because I secretly loved you. I apologize for not telling you sooner, but I was sure you would have rejected me and I don't blame you. Live on, for both of us, please." - M._

When Marik entered a cold and darkened room, he felt that the next few minutes would be the last ones of his life. The shackles around his wrists and ankles prevented him from running away and the bandages in front of his eyes took away his ability to see. The latter didn't stop him from guessing where he was, though.  
"This is the room where you murdered my father, isn't it?" As soon as he had spoken the words, Marik could feel his entire body tense up. The fiendish laughter he heard behind him confirmed his suspicion. "How very perceptive of you." Mariku let out an impatient hiss as he grabbed the chains attached to the shackles. "But it doesn't really matter whether you know where you are or not, it won't change anything."

Why did things have to work out like this? Marik had always known that eventually one of the two had to die, because they could only share one body for a certain amount of time. Still, he had thought that moment wouldn't come for at least another few more years. A tinkling sound behind him caused Marik to snap out of his thoughts.  
Mariku's hands were rough as he yanked the chains, causing Marik to fall on his knees to the ground. Even though he couldn't see, Marik still knew he was bleeding, for he felt a thick substance emerging from his knees. The white cloth he was wearing slowly turned red and with that, it got slightly warmer. "I'm bleeding," he muttered. "I'm bleeding and I'm going to die."  
He sounded so broken, so wretched, it would have been a terrible thing to witness for those with a heart. Even if he had done some bad things in his life, this was no fate for the tomb keeper whom had tried so hard to re-write his wrongs and the ones of the Yami standing next to him.  
"You sure are bleeding a lot, what a bother." Mariku sounded bored as he whispered the words and sighed. "Now get up, we don't have much time." Marik silently obeyed, but fell back on the ground as soon as he stood straight. Another hiss left Mariku's mouth. "Tsk, you are so weak, it annoys me. Now, let's get a move on."  
This time, Marik didn't have to walk on his own, maybe it would have taken up too much time. Mariku was an impatient man and that fact was confirmed when he started to walk in a rather hurried pace, carrying Marik over his shoulder. The blonde Egyptian wanted to ask where his dark side was taking him, but the words never left his mouth.  
Within a minute, Mariku stopped walking and put Marik down in front of him. Slowly and with unexpected care, he removed the bandages, giving Marik his sight back. His rough hand stroke the tomb keeper's trembling face after which he pressed his lips against his cheek. "This will be goodbye, sweet little pawn. It has been a lot of fun playing with you, but I no longer have any need for a weakling like yourself."  
Marik's whole being was shivering as the words Mariku had spoken had finally sunk in. All that there was left to do, was to thank Ra for the short, but meaningful life that had been granted him. If only he had changed his ways sooner, if only he had been able to walk the path of the righteous a little while longer.  
There was regret, a lot of it. Marik fell to his knees once again, no longer caring about the blood and pieces of bone that were peeking through. He was going to die soon anyway, why would he care about something as trivial as broken knees? As Marik wept and mumbled something about apologizing to Yugi, Mariku just stood next to him, not saying a word. He sighed.  
"You are pathetic, you know that? Instead of fighting for your life, you have already given up. With that attitude, you don't deserve to live." Why did he always have to speak such harsh words? The poor tomb keeper felt bad already and this only made things much worse. It was when Marik wanted to answer, that a sudden rage came over him.  
"Of course I have given up! I'm in a tomb in Egypt where nobody can find me, I can't move my arms and legs because of the shackles and above all; both of my knees are broken! I can't run away from you and I can't fight you. So tell me, how am I supposed to keep on going if you're planning to kill me?"  
Silence.  
"Yeah, I thought so." Marik kept on running his mouth. What was there to be scared of now that he knew he would die shortly after this conversation? The answer was; nothing. "I know I've said this many times during the good ten years we spent together, but I've never meant it as much as I do now. Mariku, I sincerely and absolutely hate you! I hate everything about you! I hate your laughter, your eyes, your scent and most important of all; I hate your soul. If you even have one, that is. You have been tarring on mine all this time, I wouldn't be surprised if yours has been consumed by the darkness already."  
Again, Mariku didn't say anything. All he did was take out the Rod after which he lifted it in the air. "So this is it huh," Marik whispered as he lay on his stomach on the cold floor. "I'm going to die now and you don't even say goodbye." Tears fell down his cheek and he tried his best to hide them by facing the ground.  
Still without speaking, Mariku rolled his good side over and aimed the Rod at his busted up knees as he sat beside him. A golden glow surrounded the nasty wounds and slowly, they started to heal. "Wh- What are you doing?" Frightened by the cold feeling on his knees, Marik had opened his eyes. "Wait, are you healing me? Why? I didn't even know the Rod had these powers!"  
Marik's breath was taken away for a second, did Mariku just smile? "Really, you're an idiot." He hadn't been wrong, it was a smile. "An Idiot?" Marik thought back as he said the two words. He had never seen Mariku smile before, not like this. There was something calming and determined about it, as if he had just made a right decision.  
"Yes, an idiot." Marik's knees were now fully healed and he stood up, trying them out as if he had received new legs. "Of course the Rod can't heal people, it's a dark artifact, you of all people should be aware of that. It can turn back time, though and that's all there is to it. As for the reason why I did it, that is a more complicated story." Mariku's slight smile turned upside down and he almost looked kind of sad. It was a very weird thing to see which made Marik unsure about the right way to act, so he decided to let Mariku himself take the lead.  
Mariku took a step forward and grabbed his good side tightly. This would be the one and only time the young tomb keeper would ever feel his other side hug him, something he had secretly longed for ever since they were together. "I won't kill you, but we don't have much time, so don't speak until I am finished, understood?" Marik nodded, he had a bad feeling about this.  
"We can only spend two more minutes together, after that one of us has to die in order for the other one to live on. We can't do anything about it, it's the curse I brought upon us the second I started tarring your soul. I wanted to kill you so that I could be the one to live on and spread doom here on Earth, but I can't. I wish there was a way we could live side by side, but there is no more time." Marik wanted to speak, but the Yami raised his hand and continued.  
"Don't. I can read your mind, you know. Thank you for loving me, I mean that. I know this isn't what you wanted to happen, which compels me to confess something to you. This also Isn't what I wanted, because I secretly loved you. I apologize for not telling you sooner, but I was sure you would have rejected me and I don't blame you. Live on, for both of us, please."

And after that, Marik never had a chance to respond. He never had a chance to tell his other side how much he loved him and how he was more than willing to give his own life. Mariku had taken the Rod and had left the room, leaving the tomb keeper behind. When Marik started to search for the Yami, he noticed a maze-like construction had been created.  
He had searched for more than half an hour and when Marik entered yet another room, letting out a wretched scream as soon as he did. After two minutes of searching, he had known it was over, due to his own body still being intact. Still, Marik had kept on being hopeful. Until now, that was.  
Before the young one's eyes lay the body of the one who was his dark side. With his sight already blurred by tears, he hurried to the corps, kneeling beside it. Another scream echoed through the maze and the river of tears really started to flow. "You idiot! If you had told me sooner, we would have had enough time to find another way to save us! How could you think I would reject you, you're a part of me! You said you could read my mind, how come you never picked up on that thought? Answer me, ANSWER ME!"  
With his hands on Mariku's shoulders, Marik let himself look straight into the corps' empty eyes. Within a few seconds, the Yami's face got wet because of the tears, it looked as if he was crying too. "You asshole," Marik had no more strength left and his voice had weakened. "you said you loved me, but yet you leave me here alone in this cold world. How could you do that to me? All I want is to be with you, I don't care if we're dead or alive. Now I don't even know where to find you, you could be anywhere within the Shadow Realm."  
Those were the last words Marik spoke to his dark side, whether he could hear them or not. And then, for the first time, Marik did something of which he knew it would be this one time only. As his lips made contact with those of his other side, shivers ran down his spine. Mariku's body was still warm and Marik couldn't help but wonder how the kiss would have been if he were still alive.  
"Wait for me." Marik stood up and started to walk towards the exit of the room, trying his hardest not to look back. "I'm going to live my life to the fullest and when my time comes, wait for me at the gates of the Shadow Realm. I love you, Mariku and I will fulfill your final wish: I will live for the both of us!"

~ The End


End file.
